Antique English Victorian Mahogany Coffee Table / Low / Occasional / Centre / Book Table (Circa 1860)

Overall, this is a fine quality English antique Victorian coffee table, made from solid mahogany and featuring a central drawer; it measures 2ft 11” wide, dates from circa 1860, and is in excellent condition. 

Summary: 

• Item: Mahogany Coffee Table 

• Circa: 1860 

• Period: Victorian 

• Provenance: England, UK 

• Wood: Solid mahogany 

• Width: 89cm / 35” / 2ft 11” 

• Victorian design 

• Adapted from a larger / taller table 

• Moulded top 

• Single working “blind” drawer 

• Turned legs  

• Mortice & tenon construction 

• Lovely rich mahogany colour 

• Original polish & patination 

• Solid in joint 

• Excellent condition 

• Free delivery to England, Wales & southern Scotland 

• 14-day Free UK returns policy 

Description:

This fine quality antique English Victorian mahogany coffee table features a central drawer, measures 2ft 11” wide, and dates from circa 1860; indeed, it remains in excellent condition throughout.  Furthermore, craftsmen have adapted this small antique Victorian coffee table from a larger, taller table so that it would serve as a coffee table in height and size for modern living.  Consequently, this small rectangular antique English coffee table now measures 2ft 11” wide by 1ft 6½” deep and 1ft 6½” tall.  Additionally, the antique English Victorian coffee table comprises a moulded solid mahogany top above a straight frieze, which incorporates a single “blind” frieze drawer, constructed with hand-dovetailed joints.  It is called a “blind” drawer because it has no visible handle; instead, a recess beneath the drawer bottom allows you to open it.   Meanwhile, this antique Victorian living room table stands on four sturdy mahogany turned legs, decorated with ring turnings. Likewise, craftsmen built this antique rectangular mahogany table in the traditional manner, with mortice and tenon joints, so it remains solid in joint and ready to use. 

This small antique mahogany coffee table displays a mellow, rich colour. Since it boasts the original polish, it has a fantastic patination that only years of careful use and cleaning can achieve. 

This 19th century antique rectangular mahogany coffee table would look good in either a traditional or contemporary setting, as an occasional table or centre table that radiates timeless character and charm. Therefore, it would certainly grace any home or office, and it makes a great investment since it is extremely functional. 

History of the Coffee Table: 

In Europe, British cabinetmakers appear to have made the first tables specifically designed as, and called, coffee tables, during the late Victorian era. According to the listing in Victorian Furniture by R. W. Symonds and B. B. Whineray, and also in The Country Life Book of English Furniture by Edward T. Joy, E. W. Godwin designed a coffee table in 1868, which William Watt, and Collinson and Lock, subsequently made in large numbers. If this is correct, it may indeed be one of the earliest examples made in Europe. However, other sources list it only as a “table”, so we cannot state this categorically. Far from being a low table, in fact, this table stood about twenty-seven inches high. 

Later, designers created coffee tables as low tables, similar to those used in tea houses. Because the Anglo-Japanese style was popular in Britain throughout the 1870s and 1880s, and low tables were common in Japan, this trend seems to be a likely source for the concept of a long, low table. Furthermore, as the number of coffee houses in England increased, demand for low “coffee” tables also increased. As a result, English cabinetmakers began designing sofas and couches to stand in front of a centre table in the living room, which further increased the desire for coffee tables within British homes. 

From the late 19th century onward, cabinetmakers subsequently made many coffee tables in earlier styles due to the popularity of revivalism; therefore, it is quite possible to find Louis XVI-style or Georgian-style coffee tables, although there seems to be no evidence of a table actually made as a coffee table before this time. In 1938, Joseph Aronson defined a coffee table as a “low wide table now used before a sofa or couch”, adding that “there is no historical precedent” — perhaps suggesting they arrived late in the history of furniture. Subsequently, with the increasing availability of television sets from the 1950s onward, coffee tables came into their own, since they remain low enough, even with cups and glasses on them, not to obstruct the view of the TV. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_table  

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/a-potted-history-of-the-coffee-table  

https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/coffee-table-design-history/  

Dimensions:

• Height = 47cm / 18½” / 1ft 6½”
• Width = 89cm / 35” / 2ft 11”
• Depth = 47cm / 18½” / 1ft 6½”

Condition Report:

This is a fine quality antique English Victorian mahogany low centre table, made from solid mahogany and featuring a central drawer; it measures 2ft 11” wide, dates from circa 1860, and remains in excellent condition.  Craftsmen have adapted this antique solid mahogany coffee table from a larger, taller table in order for it to serve at coffee table height and size, for modern day living.  Importantly, there are no breaks to the frame or legs, and the storage drawer is in good working order and is ready to use.

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Product Ref. 120027